Tag Archives: Nintendo

So another E3 has come and gone and I am again feeling hollow, but hey at least its time to talk about the games and the convention on a whole. Unlike the last two years I’m currently on holiday so I had to catch all the E3 material erratically as I went out to eat and celebrate birthdays, so that’s why my thoughts are on the late side. But I couldn’t leave this blog without doing so form of wrap-up mini discussion so here we go!

The Press Conferences

Unlike last year I didn’t get to see all of the main press conferences live, Microsoft and Sony’s conferences I had to watch a good few hours after their main announcements while Ubisoft and Nintendo’s I got to check out on time. As for the press conferences I liked what Microsoft brought in terms of their game selection, but I wouldn’t say it was anything mind-blowing, plus the fact that the Xbox Scorpio just ended up being the Xbox One X felt like such a lazy name. With Sony I thought there were certainly some cool highlights with some of their specific game reveals but it was a far cry from their incredible show from last year, it just felt a little slow and awkward with some of the stuff the presenter was coming out with. Ubisoft was honestly the real surprise, their conference while not mind-blowing, had some solid reveals, moved at a good pace and gave people a bit of what they expected and what they didn’t and think it all worked out well for them. With Nintendo as usual they did their own thing with their digital event and it was solid, most of it was covering games we knew were coming especially for 2017, but their were just a few major surprises that tipped the scales in their favour which I will discuss below. So who won E3? Hard to say because everyone had really cool material, but hardly anything amazing that made one company stand out more than the others, but I feel like Ubisoft and Nintendo did the best with the material they had to offer, but I think that’s just me.

But what’s E3 without talking about the games? While there were some games we’d seen before there were plenty that were new that I hadn’t seen which was great, so now I’m gonna talk about all of my favourites.

Spider-Man PS4

I think the game that really stood out to me was the PS4 Spider-Man game which was unexpected to a degree. Last year when that trailer was revealed I was hyped, and I remember there being a lot of naysayers stating that the game was suing pre-rendered graphics and that the in-game visuals wouldn’t look that good. And yet here we are in 2017 with footage that was just as clean as what we saw last year with seamless transitions between the cut scenes and gameplay and it is pretty frigging awesome. The graphics look super detailed, clean and colourful and the animation with very fluid and slick from the character movements to the all the environmental elements. I like how we got to see a bit of Spidey’s combat, stealth mechanics, web-swinging and the use of quick time events. I like how cinematic the cut scenes are and the combat looks fluid and Spidey’s overall movement feel so kinetic and acrobatic, if this game can keep up this level of quality with a solid story mode, good mission variety and different costumes then I’ll be so happy.

Super Mario Odyssey

I was already obsessed with this game from the first reveal but this just brought the hype to a new level. Having Mario use his magic hat to tak control of so many enemies and objects was pure insanity the first time I watched the trailer. It opens up so many possibilities for the gameplay, exploration and bizarre scenarios. The game just looks mad and I love it, the fact that the game not only looks so gorgeous but also has a lot of gameplay variety and the fact that Mario can wear different suits? Hell yes I’m hyped!

Sonic Mania

This game could almost be my game of E3 thought it had been revealed last July, but I just can’t help it I just really want this game dammit! Haha. Sonic Mania is the 2D Sonic adventure I’ve wanted for years and didn’t know it. The game just looks like a nice balance of the old and new, but with improved art and animation, redesigned levels and brave new ones and absolutely gorgeous music too. The more I’ve seen from the game the more I’ve wanted to shout from the rooftops that this will be the best Sonic game ever, at least that’s what I hope. Each new reveal has gotten me more hyped and with the recent footage of Chemical Plant Zone Acts 1 & 2 and Green Hill Zone Act 2 with the boss battle I’m stupidly hyped now.

Dragon Ball Fighter Z

This game was one of the best surprises from E3 I had no clue this game was a thing until a good few hours after the Microsoft press conference had ended and since then I have watched so much footage and I still can’t get enough. The fact that us fans are getting a DBZ 2D fighting, the first since Burst Limit in 2008 is such a lovely surprise! The game is probably the best-looking and most accurate portrayal of the art style and animation from the original show with such intricate detail that’s gone in the character stances, fighting styles and crazy cinematic special moves, and it is all done the Marvel Vs. Capcom style of gameplay. What’s not to like? The gameplay looks so frantic, fast and intense and I love it, it perfect captures the chaotic nature of the show and I can’t wait to touch this game!

Metroid Prime 4 & Metroid: Samus Returns

This was the defining moment for a lot of people when Nintendo won E3, while watching their Spotlight video I saw their trailer announcement for something and I wasn’t too sure what it was for the first 2 seconds, but as soon as the music dropped I knew it was true and that happiness was coming my way… Frigging Metroid Prime 4! Finally! Thank god! I’m not even hardcore into Metroid but I’ve been waiting for a new game in this series for what seems to be an eternity and finally we know its in development and that was enough to sway me into thinking that Nintendo may have gotten this E3 in the bag. But then after that during the Treehouse stream those crazy people at Nintendo dropped another bomb on us; another frigging Metroid game, in 2D! Damn! Even though the art style was in 3D and this is a remake of the original Game Boy game, just to know we’ll get to play this game makes me so delighted beyond words.

Anthem

This game looks like a lot of fun just for the size and scope of the world alone. Graphically the game looks so beautiful and detailed and I’m curious to learn more and get to play this with friends with the different armour classes. Now normally this kind of game would be my cup of tea but I’m just so intrigued by the world and co-op potential that I’ll have to keep my eye out for it!

Sea of Thieves

It was good to see this game back in action and though like last year it a little cringey due to the narrator trying to deliver jokes that just didn’t land, but otherwise this larger look at the game in regards to swimming underwater and finding treasure underwater, battling enemies on the beach and getting shot out of cannons among other things. It just looks like a lot of fun with the right people.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

This game was the first major surprise of E3 in the sense that a lot of people (me included) thought this game would be a joke that no one would want to buy and yet creatively Ubisoft have taken the core foundation of the Mario games and made something special in a turn-based strategy style that has a lot of potential for creative gameplay. Straight from the trailer and game footage I can tell this will be an intriguing and hilarious session with the Rabbids.

Other Games Worth Mentioning

Firstly there’s Assassin’s Creed Origins which looks kind of different to what’s come before and I like the setting, The Evil Within 2 had a cool trailer, God of War for PS4 still looks great, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 showed off some interesting gameplay but had some horrible English dubbing, South Park: The Fractured But Whole looked great but it was also awesome to see the reveal of South Park: Phone Destroyer was just as delightful.Monster Hunter World, looked like an interest evolution of the series though I don’t know if the new gameplay elements sit well with me, the Shadow of the Colossus PS4 Remaster looked cool and learning that a new Pokemon RPG was in the works for Nintendo Switch was a nice surprise.

Conclusion

In the end E3 2017 was great experience and while it wasn’t as great as last year it had a lot of great reveals and moments that will last for a while to come. I can’t to not only get my hands on those 2017 games but also touch those games that’s on the horizon for 2018, good gravy I’m gonna be out of money for months! Hopefully you all will join me for the next year’s session as well. 😀

So did you watch E3 this year and if so what games are you excited about? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next post, laters! 😀

Howdy ladies and gents, I’m back from the underground to give you my initial impressions on Pokémon Sun, one of the two new Pokémon games recently released for the Nintendo 3DS. Now the game’s been out in the US since last week whereas us here in the UK only got it a few days ago and I wanted to bring myself away from the game just long enough to share with you readers how I feel about the 7th generation of the main series Pokémon games.

So how’s the game? Well it’s pretty darn good. Here’s the thing, I’m not gonna act like I’m blown away by this game, however there’s a lot of interesting updates and surprises here and there that make this game worth picking up especially for veteran players like myself. I consider Pokémon Sun like a new season in a long-running TV show with this new entry bringing the nostalgia and freshness at the same time.

My Main Thoughts

Pokémon Sun does a lot of cool things, with the new Alola region (influenced by Hawaiian islands) it presents you with a brand new opportunities for a different landscape an interesting sense of style, culture and atmosphere. And of course it changes a few things up with the story, game structure and most importantly the Pokémon themselves.

What I’ve really liked so far is how the core game mechanics are still the same; you run around battling and collecting Pokémon, fight Pokémon in the wild or in battles with trainers and you can assemble a unique crew of Pokémon and level them up. All that stuff I love and enjoy. But there are some newer elements that been brought to the table like:

The Interactivity: This game must have the most interactive NPCs in the series so far, most people have something important, funny and informative to say and story-wise I feel like the two previous generations beforehand, this game has characters that accompany you on your quest that feel like they have personality and tell you interesting things mainly relating to the connection between humans and Pokémon and the Alolan culture.

Change in Structure: So far I haven’t seen any gyms, instead you have island trials which are a welcomed change and while simple, its different and entertaining. Plus the way you advance from point A to B feels slightly different with the way you gain items and come across trainers, but maybe that’s just me.

Exploring: While the game prevents you from going off the main path if key story and character material is going on, you are allowed to look around and you are rewarded for exploring with items on the ground with some that are easy to find and some that are hidden. Also with the Alola region there’s some differences with the route structure, design of the towns and activities to pass time with whether you’re using taking pictures with the Pokémon Finder or messing around with the Festival Plaza, both of which I’ve gotten lost in for a while in the first 4-7 hours.

Pokémon Refresh: Basically this was Pokémon Amie from X & Y except expanded, I haven’t played X since 2013 or 2014 so I couldn’t tell you what’s different, but so far I really like Refresh. While its annoying when you accidentally hit your Pokémon instead of petting them, I do enjoy feeding, cleaning and petting my Pokémon. Your connection to them feels more intimate and some of the Pokémon animations are so cute and fun, plus the effects of your close connections really helps in battle when it comes to landing critical hits, evasion and avoiding status ailments.

Visual & Audio Presentation: The game looks great, the art and animation are the best the series has seen so far, and because of the varied/dynamic camera angles, you travel through this world seeing all of the beautiful detail from different angles, it feels cinematic and larger in scope than previous games. There’s also minor yet notable updates to Pokémon battle animations, attacks and environments too. Also the music is really good, while not as immediately impressive as X & Y, Sun’s soundtrack is probably the most culturally diverse in the series so far along with familiar-sounding songs too in the vein of generation 6 too, I’m really starting to enjoy some specific songs especially the Evolution music (that sound is beast!).

Up to this point I’m enjoying myself, this game feels a little more personal, versatile and different, while being more of the same that I’ve come to expect from the series. While Sun doesn’t haven’t that wow factor that X did when I started playing that in 2013, this game has easily stolen many hours away from me to the point where I feel bad for not playing it. I’ve literally just started to get lost in this game with all of the new features, level grinding and catching different Pokémon and trust that I spent around 8 hours just doing as little of the story as possible, I didn’t even pass the first trial around 11 and a half hours in! If I have some nitpicks about the game is that it is a little easy in terms of the difficulty, some Pokémon take a little longer than I expected to evolve and with the new Pokédex you’re told exactly where to go whereas in the old games you just found your own way forward, but that’s just the traditionalist in me haha. Honestly I can’t wait to see where this game goes and hopefully I’ll be playing it at least beyond Christmas.

So are you playing Pokémon Sun and Moon and if so 1) Which version do you have? And 2) Are you enjoying it? Be sure to comment below and I’ll see ya on the next blog post, laters! 😀

So another E3 has come and gone and I am sad. To me there’s always a bit of a hollow/melancholy feeling when the biggest convention in gaming ends, that being said at least we have all these awesome gaming experiences to look forward to in the future. I have to say going into this E3 I was interested, but my hype levels weren’t nearly as high as previous years, but my god I was not prepared for all the awesomeness I was going to experience. This year E3 2016 wasn’t playing around, for the most part everyone brought their A-game and it was just a treat to watch. There’s so much that happened that I’m not even sure where to start but hopefully I’ll be able to cover everything that I saw.

The Press Conferences

I skipped EA because I don’t watch their conferences anymore and since I haven’t played any Bethesda games I skipped their show too. So it was down to Microsoft, Sony and Ubisoft, and while Ubisoft impressed me to a degree, it was Microsoft and Sony that really surprised me. Microsoft’s conference was straightforward and full of a lot of games I never knew I wanted, especially with the VR material, and Ubisoft as usual had some memorable moments with Aisha Tyler, the featurette on the Assassin’s Creed film and those colourful dancing people at the beginning of the show. But it was Sony that won E3 for me, their presentation was slick, moved at a swift pace, always showing new games and even had a live orchestra. You don’t get cooler than that.

But what’s E3 without talking about the games? While there were some games we’d seen before there were plenty that were new that I hadn’t seen which was great, so now I’m gonna talk about all of my favourites.

Forza Horizon 3

This was a game I wasn’t expecting to like because you know after you’ve seen one fancy-looking racing game, you’ve seen them all right? However I have to say the Forza series always has me coming back because the advances the developers make in graphics, gameplay, the types of cars, tracks and weather effects. And this game just looks gorgeous, I’m not even that big into racing games and yet I feel like I need tis game in my life.

Sea of Thieves

This was a big surprise for me as I didn’t know I wanted a game like this until I saw it. At first seeing all the people talking while playing the game was super cringey, but as the trailer went on I saw a game that I’d love to dive into and get lost in. Co-op gameplay in the world of pirates? Looks awesome, from the drinking and blurry vision, to sailing across the sea, to engaging in boat combat and having to make repairs once your boat start to sink. Sign me up yo!

Horizon Zero Dawn

I was really impressed when I saw this game revealed at last year’s E3 with the world, main character and robot enemy designs, but this year we got to see more of the world and some specific gameplay and I have to say I’m loving it. This game looks pretty unique in terms of its approach to combat, enemy behaviour and sense style with the art direction and animation which all looking pretty slick.

God of War PS4

This was the game that proved that you can never truly be sure what expect from a new game in a franchise. I’d heard rumours of a God War game for PS4 but I didn’t care, at this point I was over the franchise and didn’t care if it was revealed or not, but as soon as I saw the gameplay trailer I was sold. This game from a graphical standpoint looks great, but it is the way the game is framed with the third-person perspective and more cinematic camera shots that make it feel more intimate. From what we’ve seen here this will be a more story-driven adventure and the whole fact that Kratos is a father, is rocking a sweet beard and is teaching his son to hunt while also trying to keep him safe, that just feels strange considering what has come before in this series, but it is a very welcome addition. Kratos needs some humanizing and a reason for the players to care about him and this looks like a good start.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole

As much as I’d like another season of South Park at the same time, if we’re getting another RPG game from Matt Stone and Trey Parker and Ubisoft, then screw it I can wait for the TV material as Fracture But Whole looks insanely fun. I’m liking the expanding game mechanics and the theme of superheroes being in a South Park game works so well that its ridiculous. The jokes about the current state of superhero genre and the specific references to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phases of film or the whole Marvel vs DC film material was hilarious. I’m looking forward to this game a lot.

Spider-Man PS4

This game came out of nowhere, frigging nowhere. I saw this and I’m like what th fuck!?! Where has this game been hiding? A new Spider-Man game made by Insomniac Games? Gimme! Gimme dammit! The game looks incredibly detailed, versatile in terms of the combat and very over-the-top with the kinetic movement and overall presentation. Most Spidey games have sucked since Spider-Man 2 or at least Shattered Dimensions, if the developers can get the combat, open world and main campaign and mission structure right, then we’ll have the best Spidey game ever. 🙂

Death Stranding

Another game I didn’t expect to see this year. I guess we have no idea what this game is without further information or a gameplay trailer, but so see Hideo Kojima back in the spotlight at E3 and see Norman Reedus was just delightful! I have no clue what this game will entail but I’m as intrigued as hell!

Tekken 7

Now the main reason I’m including this is not because I’m looking forward to the game a great deal, I mean I am, but I’m more interested in the way it was presented. This was Akuma from Street Fighter versus Heihachi from Tekken, I thought at first that this was the Tekken x Street Fighter game fans were promised 6 years ago. It just felt like such a big troll to people who knew about the planned crossover, only for it to be revealed that Akuma had just to be a guest appearance in a new Tekken game, weak. Sorry if I’m a optimistic idiot, but the Street Fighter crossover came out years ago and the Tekken game has yet to be made, I think it’s about time that game came out.

Final Fantasy XV

What can I say bout FFXV that hasn’t been said already? The game looks damn good, very action-packed, with super kinetic combat and large-scale boss fights and most importantly it looks like fun too. I just need September to hurry up so I can grab this game already.

Star Trek: Bridge Crew

Never expected to be interested a VR game, let alone a Star Trek game, however during the Microsoft conference this game stood out and really got me in the mood to step into virtual world of the Enterprise and do some cool Star Trek bridge related activity with some friends. It looks like a very fun, interactive and nostalgic experience and I’m very curious to see more.

Resident Evil 7

I was not expecting this game to be the game that it ended up being once the trailer got to the end, I mean the trailer was very scary, atmospheric and like a real film. The limited view, lighting and lack of sound made me feel so unsettled, and to find out it was a new Resident Evil game? Bloody hell that shocked me, but in the best possible way.

Detroit: Become Human

I liked the trailer for this a lot, it had a great sense of style, art direction and tone, and to see this scenario of an android trying to talk another android from killing a human girl had my attention, but to then be able to play out that scenario several different ways depending on how you approach the situation was what really hooked me. It felt just like Heavy rain when I watched the trailer and my friend told me it was made by Quantic Dream, I was like “That makes so much sense.” I just hope the in-game graphics, story and choices are as captivating as this trailer.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

And finally there’s the game that stole my heart, Zelda Wii U/NX, now dubbed Breath of the Wild. Damn, this game had all nervous going in, I mean I knew it’d be good but I wasn’t expecting to be blown away… How foolish was I? That trailer hit straight away on Nintendo live stream and I was completely taken back by the amount of changes there was the basic Zelda formula. I mean where to start? The looked like a combination of Skyrim, Monster Hunter and Xenoblade Chronicles X. The environments are so much larger and varied, there’s wildlife inhabiting the area, the enemies has a little more variety and everything feels so new, mysterious and compelling in a way I haven’t seen since Zelda on NES or Ocarina of Time. also let’s talk about Link for a second, he has different weapons and armour, he can climb, he can hunt, collect and cook, and he can frigging jump! Oh and that voice over in the beginning, does that confirm full voice acting throughout the game? I really hope so. There’s a lot of ways this new game could suck or be a let down, but for now I’m choosing to believe it’ll be badass. 😀

Other Games Worth Mentioning

Firstly there’s Battlefield 1 which I didn’t think I’d be excited for, but the trailer and gameplay footage from everyone playing during stream looked so incredible and fun that I want to jump in (also shout out to Snoop Dogg haha). Seeing The Last Guardian in action again was great and to have a release date set October made me smile so much! Dead Rising 4 also looked cool with the new graphics and variety of weapons, also Scalebound once again proved to be a game worth playing with the crazy creature designs, interesting combat and multiplayer possibilities.

Conclusion

In the end E3 2016 was an awesome experience, I did not expect to love the games so much this year and now I’m so stupidly giddy about the future. I pray that my wallet will be able to take it and that I’ll have the free time to be playing these games between now and next year. 🙂

So did you watch E3 this year and if so what games are you excited about? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next post, laters! 😀

Howdy people of the internet, today I am here to give you my review of Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions, the orchestrated concert based on music in the Pokémon video game series. Last night, along with my sister, I went to London and witnessed this amazing musical sound and I just have to talk about it.

As soon as I got into Hammersmith Apollo, I noticed hundreds of people around all buzzing about the show, some in cosplay and others in general Nintendo-based attire, and use I sat down, I turned opened my 3DS and checked my StreetPass and after that it just didn’t end. I was constantly getting StreetPass hits and I loved it haha. Also during the waiting period there was a huge screen below the seating area of the orchestra which had the whole “Who’s That Pokémon?” thing going on with various Pokémon throughout all six generations showing up in silhouette and then being revealed, I did alright, but some of them I could guess for the life of me.

Sorry about the picture quality, but this was the view from my seat before the concert took place.

Oh but when the concert started, man, the mood in the room was elevated and the feeling amongst all the fans was electric. And once everything started, the feeling overwhelming happiness never left my heart.

This was the setlist:

Overture

Pallet Town (from Red, Blue, and Yellow)

Prepare for Trouble (from Red, Blue, and Yellow)

Born to be a Champion (from Red, Blue, and Yellow)

Ecruteak City (from Gold, Silver, and Crystal)

Songs of the Towers (from Gold, Silver, and Crystal)

… (from Gold, Silver, and Crystal)

Ancients of Hoenn (from Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald)

Falling Ashes (from Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald)

End of the Road (from Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald)

Dreams and Adventures (from Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum)

Routes of Sinnoh (from Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum)

The Lake Guardians (from Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum)

Intermission

Pokémon Center

The Day I Became King (from Black and White)

N-Counter (from Black and White)

Farewell (from Black and White)

An Eternal Prison (from X and Y)

Welcome to Kalos (from X and Y)

Professor Sycamore (from X and Y)

Friends, Fights & Finales (from X and Y)

Encore

Gotta Catch ’em All (Pokémon Theme)

KISEKI

What made the concert so great was musical was a combination of nostalgia, interesting musical arrangements and the sense of unity amongst the crowd.

So let me start with the nostalgia factor. For me, I’m not a hardcore Pokémon fan these days, however, back in the 90’s to early 00’s this franchise meant so much to me and even these days I still show love to Pokémon when appropriate. But seriously, hearing the “Overture” and seeing the title screens of all the Pokémon games from beginning to end was special and I could feel the emotion right in the center of my soul being lit up. After that hearing a lot of the music from Generation 1, 2 and 3 was kind of magical, like there was that feeling of being a kid/young teenager stepping into these games again for the first time when entering new places, going into battles or going to the Pokémon League.

As for the music, oh dear god. The music was gorgeous. Just like Symphony of the Goddesses, this concert really opened my eyes to how creative and surprising orchestrated versions of video game music can be when handled well. I mean to be honest there’s at least two or three well-known versions of the main Pokémon theme thanks to the 90’s anime show, and Super Smash Bros. Melee, but when the “Overture” came along, I was like “Damn, this is even more incredible than I imagined.” It was like if the main theme of Pokémon descended from heaven. Yeah it was that good and it set the tone so well. But what was cool about the concert was that not every arrangement was so powerful, intense or large in scale, some were quiet, intimate and had certain genre differences especially when it came to some of my favourites like “Ecruteak City“, “Songs of the Towers” (from Gold, Silver, and Crystal) and “Professor Sycamore“.

There were some beautiful moments in “Falling Ashes” (based on the music from Route 113 which was one of my favourite pieces from Ruby & Sapphire), while “Born to be a Champion” was delightful and “…” featured some of my favourite pieces from Gold, Silver, and Crystal especially the battle with Red which was AMAZING! But my favourite arrangement by far was “Prepare for Trouble” which was the music from the Silph Co building in Red, Blue, and Yellow, that’s always been one of my favourite songs in the series and to hear this dark, super dramatic, overwhleming beast of a song come and just rock my eardrums was fabulous. It sounded like something out of a film, maybe a thriller or a sci-fi adventure, either way, you could feel the impact of the song and it was just intense and badass. I WAS IN LOVE!

And then finally there was the sense of community. This crowd was very vocal, whether they were reacting to some of the funny dialogue on-screen from the NPC’s or just reacting to conductor Susie Seiter or the MC (who’s name I can’t reemember at the moment), everyone had moments to scream and shout in happiness. Oh but my favourite moment was when we all got to sing the main theme from the Pokémon anime, any fan knows the song, we’ve all sang it and to sing it there was frigging awesome!

In conclusion Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions was a fantastic experience, it was nostalgic, powerful and interactive. Like when I went to the last two Zelda concerts, these concerts have presented very different and impressive orchestrated versions of classic video game music, and while I wasn’t completely familiar with all of the music, it was gorgeous and I would highly recommend it.

So if you’re a Pokémon fan have you experienced this concert before and if so how was your experience? Leave them below in the comments section and I’ll catch ya on the next review yo.

Howdy ladies and gents, time for a quick impressions post and today I’ll be talking about Super Mario Maker. Since its unveiling I’ve been interested, but in time the more details that had been shown off, the more I wanted the game. Just the sheer amount of creativity and insanity that Nintendo were offering, it was just too good to pass up. So now I’m just gonna tell you what I think of the game so far.

In short the game is pretty kick ass. I’m only around 8 hours into the game but already really liking it. The game basically comes down to making levels and playing levels, its simple and effective. When it comes to the creation side of things I’m having fun just trying to think of what to do, but also being aware that there are thousands, probably millions of people around the world crafting the same stuff as you keeps you thinking. I haven’t changed my Wii U clock to the get all the extra items because I can’t be bothered so I’ve just taken things as they’ve come and I’ve had fun gaining new power-ups, enemies and hazards. Still waiting for the Mario 3 and Mario World material as that’s my favourite visual aesthetics of the Mario series.

As for playing user-created levels, bloody hell, the amount of madness and fun I’ve come across online is nothing short of amazing. The online level landscape is exactly how I imagined it would be; full of fun levels, creative levels and hard as hell levels too. Sometimes I’m running through levels as Sonic, Link or Samus in their themed worlds or I could just be running for my life as everything tries to kill me or I could just be standing still and watching a level play itself in a sea of chaos. Playing the online levels of other creators is more than enough reason to come back to this game.

My only issue with the game is the longevity. Like most games these days, the amount of time I spend of a game is important. Games that aren’t RPGs normally don’t hold my interest for that long with some (with a few exceptions to the rule) and I feel like Mario Maker could go one of two ways: 1) I’ll bleed it try in the first week and not come back to it for a good while. OR 2) I could still have ideas and levels to play and balance out my playtime each time I come back to it. I hope for the latter, but we’ll see what happens.

In conclusion Super Mario Maker so far is really fun, easy to use and great to play, I just hope I still feel this way in a few months from now. If you’ve been playing the game be sure to comment below and tell me what you think of it. Until next time, laters! 😀

Ladies and gents I come to you today as a long-term Nintendo fan and yesterday I was hoping to be wowed or at least impressed with Nintendo’s contribution to E3 considering the game that Microsoft and Sony brought in the last day or say. Unfortunately Nintendo only gave me and many other fans only a handful of things to look forward to, but didn’t give us anything to blow our minds and that’s left this fan base in a place that’s far from pleased. So I just wanted to talk about where I think Nintendo went wrong with this event.

Now before I begin I want to say that this is not a rant, more like a statement from a concerned fan who has an opinion to share.

Okay so let’s talk about the games that they did have on display. Nintendo’s E3 Software Lineup consisted of:

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes

Super Mario Maker

Star Fox Zero

Hyrule Warriors: Legends

Metroid Prime: Federation Force

Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash

Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros.

Skylanders SuperChargers

Yoshi’s Woolly World

Genei Ibun Roku #FE

Fire Emblem Fates

Xenoblade Chronicles X

A good selection of games for sure, however besides the odd new surprise here and there, there was nothing really unexpected or out of the realm of possibility. Now that’s not to say that this Digital Event didn’t have its charms. The whole puppet character versions of Satoru Iwata, Reggie Fils-Aime and Shigeru Miyamoto was quite funny and entertaining and very in line with the quirk and random nature of Nintendo. Plus seeing some ACTUAL footage of Star Fox Wii U (now dubbed Star Fox Zero) was great considering that I’ve been waiting for a home console Star Fox game for 8 years now. I also liked the look of Tri Force Heroes, Mario Maker and I am a sucker for Mario Tennis so Ultra Smash will probably be on my radar too… With all that being said there is a hole of excitement and lack of surprise from the event that cannot be unshaken and now I will talk about what I think that was.

No Wow Factor

Nintendo as a company must know by now that their fan base, especially the older ones, are like a legion of crazed animals who require immediate software to keep us satisfied, because once you gives the fans something lackluster or give them nothing for a while, then everyone loses their minds! I’m pretty sure Reggie Fils-Aime has even addressed that on a couple of occasions; that the fans are insatiable and want the next best thing after they’ve been given something good. And it’s true, when we’re given a Metroid, people want to know when the next Zelda is coming out or when the next big Mario game is coming or a new I.P. like Splatoon or The Wonderful 101, and in a few years people will be after the next Smash Bros. and Mario Kart, the cycle never stops. So as a company they should know by now that failure is not an option, and even though they’re not necessarily competing with Sony and Microsoft’s next-gen consoles, at the same time they have to perform that much harder so that they can still be relevant and show they’re a force to be reckoned with.

Last year Nintendo rocked E3 last year with their hype with Splatoon, Smash Bros. 4, Yoshi’s Wooly World, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Bayonetta 2 and of course the massive reveal of Zelda Wii U, with the last game really blowing people’s minds. That was good stuff. This time round several of the games from last year showed up again with no real significant new footage. And the other games shown were either unnecessary or just not what people wanted. There was no Nintendo game that matched the internet-breaking hype levels of Final Fantasy VII Remake or Kingdom Hearts 3 or Fallout 4 to put things in perspective.

Questionable Reveals For Certain Games

With Fire Emblem Fate had primarily the same trailer we’d seen in the past except with english voice actors and while the game looks great it is still AGES away in 2016. Also, Genei Ibun Roku #FE (the Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem game) had more footage to show off but the trailer just felt like a compilation of clips and didn’t provide much in the way of the story or in-game gameplay to give you an idea of how the game mechanics would work. Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash had a really small and unremarkable trailer, to those not so interested in this series it was basically a Mario tennis game with mega mushrooms, nothing more or les than that. There were no fancy moves or abilities or cool gimmicks or big details about the game and that really doesn’t sell the game well. Oh and look Skylanders SuperChargers has Mario characters in it… Yay? No! I don’t want that!

But nothing hurt worse than what came next. It felt something like this: Nintendo: “Hey guys want a new Animal Crossing game on Wii U?” Fans: “Yeah! Nintendo: “Here’s a party game!” Fans: “What?” An amiibo-focused AC game? Why? That is the last thing fans of this series want, sure it hasn’t been too long since the last main series game but don’t ruin in by doing these unnecessary spin-off, especially the party game territory, there’s enough of that shit out there already. But then comes the big troll of the day: Nintendo: “Hey guys you love Metroid Prime right?” Fans: “Hell yeah!” Nintendo “Well here’s a Metroid-inspired shooter without Samus in it!” Fans: “What the hell Nintendo!?!” Metroid fans are the last you want to mess with and they’ve been waiting for a new Metroid adventure for almost 5 years and yet Nintendo have yet to gives us another Prime game or a new 2D game, instead what we caught was some game inspired by the Prime games but without any of the recognisable traits or charm. That felt like a massive slap in the face to the fans and I was gutted myself.

Retreading Old Ground

With this Digital Event, Nintendo gave us a lot of games, but they were games that we’ve seen before. Several of the games we’ve seen from last year’s E3 while some of the “new” games didn’t do much to change the basic formula like Ultra Smash and to a degree Papa Jam Bros. Even Super Mario Maker while showing off a few new details, has been shown before, Hyrule Warriors: Legends is just a port of the Wii U game with a few new elements, and that wasn’t good. Oh and Nintendo, I understand that you love Mario, but you can’t force it down fans throats, people love other things too. That Mario fan complilation video at the end was nice and all but it didn’t lead up to something big like a Mario Sunshine HD or Mario Galaxy 3 announcement, so the whole ending just felt very hollow.

Ignoring Good Franchises

It would have been interesting if Nintendo decided to bring one of their old franchises out of retirement, a new Earthbound game maybe? Even an Ice Climbers or Dog Hunt would have at least been given a raised eyebrow. I’m so keen on Punch-Out but gives another one of those like the Wii game except with more character modes and online functionality? Make a sequel to Kid Icarus: Uprising for Wii U? Make another Mario Strikers game? Try Excite Truck again but with all the modes and a variety that’s come with Mario Kart 8? COME NINTENDO GIVE ME SOMETHING! And to gap it all off, another year goes by and there’s still no F-Zero game, that’s just mean Nintendo. 😦 I know MK8 has pretty much filled that spot for the time being but that franchise has so much potential in this modern age of gaming, it’s ridiculous that it hasn’t shown up by now.

Conclusion

In the end Nintendo really dropped the ball this time. It wasn’t like they didn’t have good stuff to show off, I’ve really got hope for Star Fox, Tri Force Heroes and Paper Jam Bros., but everything else was just a bit meh to horribly disappointing. This show NEEDED something big to make up for the lack of appearance of Zelda Wii U, but we didn’t get it and now a good number of the fans are revolting. They’re really gonna have to pull off something amazing in the future to rectify this inequity.

Howdy ladies and gents, today I am here to give you my review on the London MCM Expo. Now it has been AGES since my last review of this convention (the last one being in 2011), but I felt like I had to talk about it considering all the madness that’s took place. Now before I get started I just wanted to mention that I only did the one day because I just didn’t have the funds or the free time outside of work to attend all three days. But that’s about it. Okay, let’s get going!

So the London MCM Expo, the biggest UK convention for anime, manga, comic books, movies and video games held two times a year in May and October, it came back this weekend, and I attended for the first time in two years. Last year marked the first time I hadn’t attended since I started going in 2008 which was really random to me, but since I had a great time at the London Film and Comic-Con in July, that more than made up for it. That being said, this event, even though it has gotten absurdly huge and different in appearance over the years, I have such a heavy load of good nostalgia associated with this convention, so it was only a matter of time until I went back. And my Saturday experience was a combination of joy, extreme happiness, tiredness, frustration and confusion. Make no mistake, MCM is still a great place to go for a unique and joyful experience, but some of its pleasures come at a cost, and I’m not just talking about you wallet.

Now I’m going to talk about what I got up to and separate this review into two halves; what and I liked and what I didn’t.

What I liked

This year was all about seeing what’s new, what’s remained the same and enjoying myself, and there was plenty to enjoy. Going to the Expo this year I noticed how huge the hall space was, I feel like it’s doubled in size since my first time in 2008. Walking from one side to the other felt like a 5-10 minute walk, but if you weren’t walking straight, stuck in walking traffic or had to make certain turns at different spots, then it would be a slightly longer trip.

There was this nice wall of cat drawings and I contributed as well, the one cat with his eyes closed and arms crossed on the yellow paper was mine. 😀

In terms of what I got up to, well I didn’t play too many games, see too many talks or even see the Cosplay Masquerade, but I did get to talk to some great artists, play some games and get some photos with some guests. I took a fair few photos of cosplayers. After 2012 I really lost interest in taking photos because I stopped making YouTube videos and it felt more like work than something I liked doing, so I really wasn’t going to do much this year, but then I got a good few photos this year. And just in general there was a lot of great costumes on show, loads of Star Wars, Star Trek, Batman, Spider-Man, Final Fantasy and Nintendo-related characters among many others. I was surprised by the amount of Game of Thrones characters with a good few Margaery Tyrell and Daenerys Targaryen ladies walking about.

When it comes to games I viewed some cool matches from Dragon Ball Z: Xenoverse, enjoyed seeing J-Stars Victory VS in action and looking at all of the crazy attacks and multiple characters from different anime in one place. The only other game I checked out was One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3, it looked a little more impressive than I thought, while the game looked just like your standard hack and slack with really dumbass CPU enemies that run around just to get beating up, but when I saw Fujitora in action with crazy attacks, combos and finishing moves it made me want to by the game. But when it comes to the games I actually played, it comes down to Splatoon and Super Smash Bros. Wii U.

Firstly, even though I’ve had no interest in Splatoon at all since its reveal at E3 last year because it wasn’t my kind of thing, I thought I should have at least given it a try. So with the demo on show I gave it a try and I found it to be pretty fun and much better than I expected. Running around, shooting ink, swimming and defending your territory, it was pretty fun. I even ended up getting the most ink covered for my team and didn’t die once, for a first-timer that was great. The controls felt a bit weird though with the use of the Wii U Gamepad to move the camera around and that threw me off when I trying to move around and defend myself from enemies.

But then I played some Smash Bros. and that’s when things got interesting. For me, this game series is my jam and this was the first time I got to play the game with a Gamecube controller (and it felt amazing), so we played a 6-player stock match, 5 humans and 1 Amiibo and 3 lives. The first match was hectic and it came down to me as Captain Falcon vs Ness, unfortunately I lost, but in the second match I came back with a vengeance as Lucina and schooled Ness as I sent him plummeting into the abyss! The final match I played as Fox, but was knocked out fairly early on because that tricky Mega Man Amiibo kept moving all over the place and giving me problems. 😛

Oh yeah you that where there’s an Expo there will be some Smash Bros. action for me!

But the highlights for me was three things:

Meeting John Noble

Meeting Iain De Caestecker

Meeting Jon Schnepp and seeing “The Death of Superman Lives”: What Happened?

The main reasons I went to this convention was for those three points listed above. When it comes to the photo sessions, when I saw that John Noble, yes, the Walter Bishop from Fringe was gonna be there, I literally exploded in my mind at the chance to see him. So waiting to see him yesterday was insane, long and extremely tedious, but just getting there, meeting him, shaking his hand and being so humbled by his kindness, it was the best kind of overwhelming experience. It was a heartpounding and lovely moment. And then I got to meet Iain De Caestecker later on, I liked him in Filth, but I’ve mainly been invested in his performance as Leo Fitz from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the guy was SO nice and friendly, loved it.

Overwhelming happiness, that’s what it these photos were all about yo!

And the final part of my day was seeing a screening of The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened?, the documentary from Jon Schnepp looking into the cancelled Superman film from Tim Burton starring Nicholas Cage. Seeing this film was great, it was such an intriguing and informative look into a film that got so far into development but then got canned. All of the great guest contributors, archive footage, editing and humour all came together in such a fantastic and fascinating manner. This was definitely a story that needed to be told and I’m glad that Schnepp was able to get this documentary finish. And speaking of Schnepp, I just wanted to comment on how great it was to see the man in person. He introduced the film and then did a Q&A afterwards and he was just as hilarious, charming and humble as he is on AMC Movie Talk and getting to meet him after all of these years of watching the online show felt like a dream. Oh and shaking his hand was such a delightful feeling. 😀

Such a good film, one I would recommend to anyone who is curious about this project.

What I disliked

Firstly I have to address the LINES!

Now I know exactly how Cartman felt, it was enough to drive one to madness.

Now I’m no stranger to standing in lines at events like this and I’ve gotten used to it especially when it comes to playing games, watching the Cosplay Masquerade or getting autographs/photos with celebrity guests… That being said, usually there’s a system in place so that you know where to go when you start to queueing and avoid collisions with the general public just passing by, but NOPE, not this year. Those guys at the Excel really dun goofed this year. When it came to photo sessions specifically there was no order, everyone was everywhere, lines for certain people were spread across three different locations, some people skipped the queue altogether and the general public just trying to get by had to force their way through. There was SO much frustration and it was all because of miscommunication and lack or order.

And the staff, they had no clue. Really, you could have asked four or five staff members where you were meant to stand before you got the correct answer and by that point you had probably wasted 30-45 minutes of your time. And only after allowing you to stand in the wrong places do the get organised and attempt to get a system in place for the different queues passing into each other, and even then, there was conflicting information and a lack clear instructions because no one had a bloody megaphone! I know I complained about the waiting periods at London Film and Comic-Con last year for their outside lines, however, at least their photo session tickets had clear sections to stand in and system in place for calling you up when it was your turn. This kind of thing can’t continue in the future as the fans I was standing with were ready to revolt out of anger, confusion and sore legs.

Now imagine these lines, but with 5 to 10 times as many people squashed in one spot. Chaos!

The only other thing I would complain about is more of a nostalgic nitpick, and it relates to the state of the Expo. A few years ago this convention was big, but it was controlled, fun and felt unique, but in recent times the convention has gotten a little too big. There’s so much going on with the stalls, events and guest stars, I feel like the event’s gotten too big and out of control. Sure making the Expo bigger to accommodate more stuff is always interesting for new and returning fans, but I feel like this isn’t the event I remember and some of the charm has been lost.

In conclusion the MCM Expo in London was a good time. After a little break from this convention it was nice to go back and revisit the place that exposed me to the madness of fans and the content on display. This even was pretty frustrating though, unorganised staff, loads of queues and lack of information really knocked this experience down a few pegs, if the Expo is to continue then it needs to get its act together. But other than those formalities I had a hella good time and should I find a reason to return in the future I may do so.

So did you go to the recent MCM Expo and if so what did you think? Please be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next blog post. Laters! 😀

Howdy ladies and gents, in the last Nintendo Direct, there was an announcement that the public could now submit pitches for characters to be included in the current iteration of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U & 3DS. Naturally this sent the fans into a happy frenzy, and while there have been numerous suggestions, some good (Shovel Knight) and some unrealistic (Goku), I just thought I would give my top 4 suggestions for characters who should be added to the game. Now bare in mind this is just my opinion, but I do believe that these characters above all others should be considered.

So without further ado let’s do it!

Bomberman

Even though it was very hard for me to think of any specific characters that I considered to be “essential” to this new Smash Bros. game, at the same time I had to think of someone unique, fun, familiar with Nintendo and part of an older franchise, and Bomberman came to mind almost immediately. In fact he was the first character for me to suggest online and this is what I wrote in the 500-character description box:

Even though he primarily uses bombs, it would make for an interesting ranged character. His bombs could be thrown, planted, timed or stuck on enemies. If you look at games like Bomberman Hero, 64, Generations and Jetters, the character uses different types of bombs, abilities and aid-based characters (charaboms) to help him advance.

Back in the 1990’s/early 2000’s he was a fairly popular character with a substantial fan base and I feel like if he was included in this game it would give him some more notoriety and help the franchise return to the public eye (like what happened with Mega Man).

I stick by those words 100%, the Bomberman series is one that I really liked as a child and still enjoyed playing the games today. I feel gutted for old Bomberman, he hasn’t had a new game in years and has been forgotten by time for sure. But Smash Bros is the perfect place to resurrect the character and the game series. If characters like Duck Hunt Duo can get a place in the game, then surely someone cooler like Bomberman deserves a chance.

Rayman

This was actually my first choice before Bomberman. In a way it is a no-brainer. Rayman is a very popular character these days, he’s been around for a long time and he’s been associated with Nintendo through their games too. Then add on top of that he was a made into a fake DLC character online a little while ago and got a model from Ubisoft to turn the character into a trophy in SSB4. It seems like fans and fate what this to happen. And if you look at Rayman as a character traditionally and more recently he has moveset that is just perfect for Smash Bros., I just want it to happen so much.

Princess Daisy

Poor Princess Daisy, since Melee, some fans had hoped that she would make an appearance as a playable character, but unfortunately she was skipped in Brawl and then in SSB4 Princess Rosalina, a character who’s been in the Mario universe a much shorter time than Daisy, found her way in. And while it understandable why Rosalina would be a playable character over Daisy, it is a bit ridiculous that Daisy has been ignored for so long. While Daisy isn’t a significant character in the main Mario games, she does have a fan base and has been in every spin-off game since Mario Tennis on N64. And while she doesn’t really have much significance besides being a playable character in spin-off games, I feel like her tomboy-ish attitude could influence a less girly and more aggressive moveset. Plus, if clone characters like Falco, Lucina, Wolf, Lucas and Dr. Mario can exist, then room can be made for her.

Isaac

This character seems like another that is just crying to be done. I’ve seen in a lot of comment sections and numerous forums that people want Isaac from Golden Sun in SSB4 and I’d be inclined to agree. I liked him as an assist trophy in Brawl, but I believe that as a character with his abilities in the Golden Sun games, that he could be great and would make for a very versatile character. I feel like Isaac would left himself well to Robin’s play style where it would be a combination of magic and physical attacks, but make it a little more unique.

So there are my suggestions. Sure I would like to see Solid Snake come back or get to see characters like Proto Man, Zero, Viewtiful Joe and Midna make an appearance as new characters, however I know my suggestions don’t mean nothing until it is made official. But I hope that at least one of my choices makes the cut.

So what did you think of my choices? Also what characters would you like to see in the new game? Please be sure to leave your thoughts in comments below. Until next time, laters! 😀

Good day to you ladies and gents, and welcome to this blog post. This year has been a good time for video games, I have played a fair amount including Fire Emblem: Awakening, the brilliant Super Smash Bros. 3DS, and starting over with StreamWorld Dig, Mutant Mudds and Kid Icarus: Uprising. Obviously, they are primarily 3DS games, but that’s been my main gaming console for the year and other games I’ve played have been via my friends at uni. I haven’t been able to play many new games because I’m still low on funds (as usual), so I’ve been going backwards in time for my gaming and over the last three weeks I’ve gone back to one of my favourite games from 2011; The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

Ah Skyward Sword, we’ve had a strange history we have. It is game I love but have only played it for a short time when compared to some of my favourite games. Now I’m going to talk about my experience with this game, so consider this a semi review of sorts. 🙂

My History

Since E3 2010 I had been looking forward to playing this game, and after playing a demo at the MCM London Expo in October 2011, I was really intrigued to play more of this game with the new motion controls. So I got the game on the day of release and pretty much played it for weeks afterward. You see Skyward Sword was not only one of my most engrossing gaming experiences in a long time but it was also one of the most in-depth Zelda experiences I have had too. After 2009 my interest in gaming started to dip a fair amount, I think it may have been because I was just gaming on my Nintendo Wii or maybe it was because I started getting into watching films in the cinema, whatever it was, by the time 2010 came around I wasn’t that fussed. So in 2011 Sonic Generations was my first super happy time gaming again and then Skyward Sword just exceeded that. I fell in love with that Zelda game because for the longest time I have played many games in the series since Ocarina of Time, however Wind Waker was the first proper Zelda game I got into and played for a long time, but Skyward Sword is the first Zelda game I actually engaged with and felt like completing (besides Four Swords Adventure). I played the game almost everyday after I bought it and got around just over halfway through the game, however, after I went home for Christmas and had to leave the Wii back at home when I went to uni in 2012, I pretty much lost my groove and couldn’t get into the game again, so I left the game and never played it again, until this year.

Revisiting The Game

So after THREE YEARS, and being very curious about the game, I decided to start over from the beginning on a separate file and my god, I felt the love all over again. I started playing the game and remembered the feeling wonder, surprise and fun that comes with starting a new game, however a lot of the criticisms of game that I’ve heard from certain fans have definitely become apparent. Criticisms of the game ar as follows:

The beginning of the game is still fun, but the amount of tutorials and talking at the start of the game was quite frustrating, tedious and unnecessary. It didn’t spoil my experience, however I’m not sure how I was so patient with it before.

Sometimes the controls can be a bit fiddly, because the game relies heavily on motion controls. Sometimes it is hard to make precise hits or movements even with Wii Motion Plus. Also sometimes the amount of motion controls in the game feels unneeded and could have easily been done with buttons instead.

That stamina meter, while it is great for running and climbing quicker, at the same time it can be very annoying when doing regular tasks like running, climbing, attacking, moving objects, etc. It is very tedious and can be very inconvenient when you run out of juice while in the middle of battle or moving over quicksand.

Besides the issues listed above, it is still hella fun. Jumping back into the game after so long made it feel like a new experience, however it was great to remember all of the things that I liked about the game when I first played it and that shows that the game definitely has replay value.

The Reason I Like It

While Skyward Sword has a bit of mixed reception within the Zelda community, it is definitely regarded as one of the better games in the series, and for me personally I REALLY like this game. The story is pretty interesting too, Link is a great protagonist and seeing him and Zelda in a romantic relationship is different but quite interesting, I also love Ghirahim as the antagonist, he’s such a creepy/insane badass. I also love seeing everything all the foreshadowing that will come into play with the other games in the Zelda timeline. The visuals have a nice blend of watercolour paintings mixed in with the cel-shaded style of Wind Waker and realistic style of Twilight Princess and it gives off this very bright, vivid and charismatic type of game which is charming and pleasant to look at. And then there is the soundtrack which is gorgeous! The orchestral sound is heavenly and adds a lot to the gameplay when travelling and battling, the best songs being “Ballad of the Goddess“, “Ghirahim Battle“, “The Sky” and “Separation” to name a few. In addition to that, gameplay-wise, having the ability to run fast in a Zelda game (without the use of the Pegasus Boots) is a BIG deal and I LOVE it, I just like running all over the place. In addition to that flying on the Loftwing in the sky is one of my favourite experiences in the series, and I prefer it to riding Epona and possibly a bit more than the boat in Wind Waker. I also like the combat and the way it gives you full-on control and satisfaction when you kill your enemies. Foes you meet in the main worlds are fun to take out, I love fights with the Stalfos and Ghirahim, and some of the boss battles are epic and cinematic. And finally I like the way you get to interact with NPCs, have different choices with responses and deal with side missions and gear upgrading similar to Monster Hunter.

Conclusion

In conclusion The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, I still love this game. Some aspects of the game are a bit tedious, however I still love it. The gameplay is fun and exciting, the visuals are beautiful and the music is incredible, and playing through the game the second time is super fun and I haven’t felt this kind of fun since A Link Between Worlds last year and I can’t wait to finally finish this game. If you haven’t experienced the game yet I would recommend it, it’s a good time.

So have you played The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and if so what do you think of it? Do you love it, hate it or feel indifferent? And how do you think it compares to the other Zelda games? Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Good day to you ladies and gents, time to talk about some very important gaming news. Imagine my surprise when I woke up today and went online to browse the internet (as usual) only to find out that the upcoming Zelda game for Wii U has had footage debuted. My reaction to this was like “What? Really? In December?” (I didn’t know at the time about it being attached the Game Awards) Then my thoughts quickly turned to “I need to see this now.” So I ventured online to YouTube and to say I was quite hyped afterwards would be the biggest understatement of the year.

Check out the awesome video below:

So what do I think of this gameplay? I think next year needs to hurry the hell up as I am frigging over the moon about this footage.

I remember seeing the first trailer revealed at E3 this year and being completely blown away by the in-game HD graphics, art design and sense of scope when it came to the landscape. Now with this trailer it allows us to see just a little more of this new world, how Link will traverse it and a bit of the combat works.

What do I think of this overall? I love it, I’m totally in love. Straight from the time video begins you are treated to an incredibly beautiful sight; an open field with lush greenery with a sunset in the background, it is gorgeous. I hate to go on about the visuals so much but they are truly incredible, they are rich in colour, incredibly detailed (especially with the environments), and the animation looks so smooth and charismatic. Also there is a nice blend of the detailed side of Zelda games and the cel-shaded side of things, plus some new levels of realism that I think could only be done with the Wii U’s hardware. The verticality of the land is very impressive and the distance you can see into the background is insane. It has been said before, but it is impossible to not make comparisons to Skyrim, this really is the Zelda equivalent of Skyrim, from the size of the map to the different ways you can move across the land to sheer sense of vastness and mystery. As for the gameplay it looks very cool, to see the Sailcloth return from Skyward Sword makes me happy and seems like it will make traversing the land a lot easier, in addition to that the return of horse riding via Epona is back with all the things you could do before except now the horse seems to move automatically and will also avoid bumping into trees too. And when it comes to combat you can swing your sword while on horseback and you can shoot arrows too or for extra badassery you can jump off of your horse, aim and shoot your enemies in slow motion (just like in the E3 trailer).

In conclusion I was hyped for this game before and now I’m just in pain just waiting for this next Zelda game. It looks pretty and I can only imagine how good the gameplay will be. Give me 2015 now yo! 😀